1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to an apparatus for blowing snow. The present invention more specifically relates to a member of a snowblower impeller that is adapted to propel the snow. The present invention also relates to other features adapted to improve the efficiency of a snowblower.
2. Description of the Related Art
Apparatuses for removing snow come in various configurations. They come in small size for personal snowblowers and they reach significant sizes in industrial applications. Generally, snowblowers are designed to remove snow, ice, and sometimes other debris, from the ground and propel the snow and ice at a distance to clear the ground.
Snowblowers can use different mechanical configurations to perform the required task. Some snowblowers are using an endless screw in front of the apparatus to break the snow and the ice in smaller portions, in a first stage, and then use a rotatable impeller to propel the snow and the ice at a distance from the snowblower, in a second stage. The distance and the direction are managed with a directional nozzle. The snowblower can be powered in different ways, generally with an engine via a drive member. The engine can be part of the snowblower in some configurations. A vehicle carrying the snowblower can alternatively provide power to the snowblower in other configurations.
The rotatable impeller generally includes a series of vanes or blades sized and designed to receive thereon snow and ice. Rotation of the blades is propelling the snow and the ice. The blades are generally equipped with a knife portion to cut through snow and ice. The blades are generally disposed on the snow contacting edge of the impeller to propel the snow. The snow is generally pushed toward the exterior diameter of the impeller when propelled by the rotating impeller, subjected to centrifugal forces.
To some extent, the impeller can be compared to a turbine that is pumping air and snow. The blades of the impeller are thus designed to ingest snow, a solid material, and are also pumping air, a fluid with lesser density. The vanes that are generally flat to prevent solid material to squeeze between the vanes and the impeller housing. The design of the impeller could be improved to increase the efficiency of the snowblower and reduce the required amount of power to perform the same work.
It is therefore desirable to provide an improved snowblower over the existing art that is requiring less power to propel a same amount of snow and ice.
It is also desirable to provide an improved impeller over the existing art that is adapted to ingest and propel more snow.
Other deficiencies will become apparent to one skilled in the art to which the invention pertains in view of the following summary and detailed description with its appended figures.